William hanlon



W. HANLON.

Velocipede. No. 86,834. PatentedFeb. 9, 1869.

N. PETERS. FlluluLitbogv-apher, Wallingiun. 0.1:.

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WILLIAM'HANLON, on NEwYoEmn. Y, Assrenon ro HI S LF AND GEORGE, AL- FRED, EDWARD, AND FREDERICK HANLON, 0F SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 86,834, dated Febrna/ry 9, 1869.

mPROVENlE N'I IN VELOCIPEDES. I

1'0 all it my com-cm Be it known that 1, WILLIAM HANLON, of New York city, of New York county, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful i Improved Velocipede;? and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, makingpart of this application.

Previous to my invention, velocipedes have been made with the driving-cranks att-z'rched tothe shaft, or axle of the front wheel, and adapted to be operated directly by thefeet oi the rider, and in propelling the carriage straight ahead, and turning easy curves, no serious ditiiculty or objection has been encountered. But I have found by experience, that in velocipedes, as heretofore made, it is not possible to tin-n short or quick curves without bringing the periphery of the.

front' wheel into contact wi h the clothes of the rider, whereby they are not only soiled by the dirt from the" wheel, but, with an expert rider, turning .sbort curves at a. high speed, are also soon cut' or worn'by the fric tion of the wheel.

This is a. great objection, and a growing one, riders become more expert in the manipulation of the can'iage; and to overcome this ditiiculty is the object of the first part of my present invention, which consists in providing a shield, arranged over portion of the periphery of the wheel, in sucli amanr ier that, while it does not interfere with the motions of said wheehit will. always be interposed between the periphery thereof and 'the 1egs of't'he rider,-as will be here inafter more fully explained.

It has been customary to apply the brake to the hind wheel or wheels of the velocipede, and in that kind having but one rear wheel, it has been mqst (ZOD'. veniently arranged, by having it placed so as to be operated by the rear end-of the saddle or seat, the rider puttingon the brake by leaning back in his seat.

I have found, by experience, that it is objectionable to have to change the position of the body, or be obliged to assume a given position, and force the body backward, in order to apply the brake, and that thebrake is more eflicaclous ifapplied to the driving-wheel; and to overcome the objections just stated, and place the carriage more completely under the control of the rider, are the objects of the second part oi'gny invention, which. consists in applying the brake to the forward wheel, and operating it by means of a hicchanism controlled by the steering-handles, will be hereinafter more fully described.

Another and serious objection to the r locipede, as heretofore constructed, has been the liability of the rider having his-leg caughtbetween the'tbrward wheel and the pereh'or frame, in the event of his losing his balance, and tipping over.

Theforward wheel, having been in a bifurcated post,

which was freeto turn entirely around in its bearings, it has sometimes happened that, in turning too short, or by some mistake in the rfianipulation of the carriage, the rider losing control of the apparatus, has had his leg caught, and severely injured by the forward wheel turning too far round in one direction, and'cramping the limb between its periphery and the perch or frame of the carriage.-

The third part of my invention has for its object to prevent; the possibility: of any such accident to the rider, while, at the sometime, the can'iage shall possess every capacity for mameuvering which it embodied as heretofore constructed; and to thesi, ends,

I The third part of my invention consists in providing a means for limiting the rotation or oscillation of the vertical frame, or post in which the front wheel is hung, so that, while the wheel may be turned ineither direction, to a sniiicierit extent to. manoeuver the car- .riage as desired, it cannot turn entirely around, so as to catch the leg of the rider, in the event of his falling and carrying the velocipede over.

To enable those skilledin the art to make and use my invention, I will 'proceedto describe its several characteristic features, referring by letters to the ac companying drawings, in which Figure 1 is alsidc view or elevation of a velocipede embodying'mytinvention; v

Figure 2 is a top view of the same;

Figure .3 is a vertical increased. scale, showing the brake-mechanism Figure 4 isanother vertical section, taken in a plane at right angles to that in which section, fig. 3, isrdrawn, and showing the same parts;

Figure 51's 21. detail. sectional view, showing the means by which the faces of the wheels are adapted to work on ice and V Figures 6 and 7 are detail views of the stop-motion of the driving-wheel post, by means of which the swivelling-rnotion of the front wheel is limited, as hereinbefore mentioned.

In the several figures the same parts are indicated hy'the same letters of. reference. i v A and B are the front and rear wheels of the carriage, and v V G, the perch or main rrarne, which latter is bifurcated at its rear portion, where is arranged the axle otlthe rear wheel or wheels, as clearly shown in the i drawings, and as described in a. former patent granted to me. Near the forward portionfof theperch 0 there pronpward from it the usual pillar or stand I), within which is arranged, so as to turn freely, the vertical shaft, or stud e of the forked frame in which the front wheel'is hung.

This frame is formed about in the usual way, so as to straddle the wheel A, and carry in the lower end down a rod, n, which passes directions, arms k k, and these arms are provided with,

a bar, E, and handles 1 l, for the purpose of turning or swivelling the front wheel inthe vusual manner.

The bar E is arranged so as to turn freely in eyesformed in the ends of arms 7: k, and has secured to it a cam, m, so constructed and arranged that, by turu-' the said cam will press T ing said bar in .its bearing,

down through the hollow stud c, and ,isprovided at its lower end with a shoe, 0, which acts a brake in the periphery of the wheel A, said rod n, and its shoe or brake-block, being thrown and kept up, when relieved from the cam, by means of a spiral spring, 31.

Immediately'over the perch 0, in a suitable position, is located the saddle, orseat G, which I have shown attached'to an arm, I, hinged at its forward end to the perch, and supported at its rear end on spiral springsr but this seat, or saddle may be secured to a spring-bar, rigidly connected,,at its. front end only, to the perch, or may be otherwise ananged on the perch, as may be deemed expedient.

L is the shield, which maybe made of sheet-metal, covered with cloth, or cushioned in any suitable manner... It is made in the shape of anarc of a circle, about-concentric to the periphery of the wheel A, arranged soas to cover Over the latter without touch- .ing' it, and is attached, at its upper forwardenmto the straddle-flame, and itsother end to two braces or bars, 8 s, which extend up from the lower ends of arms ff, as clearly shown in the drawings.

I propose to provide the rear wheel, inmachines 7 having only. two wheels, with a shield or protector, M,

to keep the dirt thrown from said wheel from the back of the rider.

This shield may be made, as represented, of sheetmetal, with arms P, extendingdown to the axle, and

so as to catch under the rear end of the saddle-arm; or it may be made and arranged inany desirable'way,

' so long as it sufliciently covers a portion of the periphery of the wheel, or is so interposed between it and the rider as to protect his back from the dirtthrowii oh by the wheel. Y 7

As before mentioned, the wheels I propose to make so that the carriage maybe run with equal facility on either land or ice. l

The vperipheries of the. wheels maybe made somewhat after the fashion of a skate-runner, as seen-at Q, and be provided with an annular rubber packing-ring, to fill up the groove when the carriage is to housed on the ground or pavement; I or they may be provided with rubber tires, to run on the pavement, and have annular rings, adapted to be bolted in each side of the felloes, and which can be readily removed from the wheel when the carriage is to be used on land.

It will be understood that a great variety of devices may beemployed to transform the surface or change the condition of the wheel, so as to adapt it to the difi'erent uses on land and ice.

In lieu of having the wheel changeable tire or face, nished to the purchaser convertible, or with a the velocipede may be fnr= sets of wheels, one. adapted to be used on ice, and thf other on land;.but I by the manufacturer with two propose, as a more economic f in its bearing,

,provement constituting my dies of the velocipede,

method, to construct one set of wheels, providedwith suitable appliances or means, such as described, for converting, or changing the face or bearing-surfaces, so as to adapt them to runeither 'on iceor land.

' The great advantage of shield or protector, to keep the rapidly-rotating periphery of the, forward wheel from coming into contact with thelegs or clothes of the rider, will be apparent to every one.

. it will be seen that, by the application "of the brake to the forward.driying-wheel, and the employment of a mechanism for operating it, which is manipulated by the hands of the rider, the brake isrendered more effective, and the carriage is more completely under the control of the rider, since a mere motion of the hands manipulates the brake-mechanism, and he is not obliged to change his position, or assume any particular attitude, while braking up.

The arrangement of devices I have shown and described for operating the brake, it will be seen, is simple and convenient, since, by merely turning thebar the brake isput on, or allowed to release itself but other arrangements of devices may be employed for carrying out this part of my'invention,

the gist of which is in the idea of placing the brake under the control of the hands of the rider, and. so arranging the mechanism for working. it that he is not obliged to change the position of his body,'legs, or arms materially.

At figs. 6 and 7 l have illustrated in detail sections, increased scale, the stop-motion, or device for limitiug the swing or swivel of the straddle-flame in which the front wheel is hung. The collar-portion is cut away, as. shown, and a stop-pin, as, projects downward from the lower surface of the -pillar or perch in such manner that, when the swivelling-fi'ame-is turned to a certain extent in one direction, the shoulder {twill come against said stop-pin w, and when turned in the opposite direct on, the thoulder 4 will comcagainst it. I have shown these shoulders so formed or located as to permit the wheel to be swivelled a little more than quarter way round before either of them will stop it. Of course the limit maybe varied, as deemed expedient, andshould be such as to permi t the great est latitude to the rider in manmuvering the-carriage, without rendering it possible for the wheel to 't'urniar enough around to catchand hurt his leg, in the event of falling over with the carriage.

The mode ofpropelliug the velocipede by means of the foot-cranks, and the manner of steering it, are of course familiar to those skilled, and need not be ex plained here. r

Having fullydescribed the several'fieaturesof iminvention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isa 1. Providing the velocipede with a shield, whichis interposed between the periphery of the forward wheel and the perch, and secured to the axle by means of braces s s, substantially as described.

2. Gombining the brake-mechanism with the hanas and for the purposes described.

3. Incombination with the perch and swivellingframe,- means for stopping or limiting the extent of motion of the latter, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

WM. HANLON. [1,. s.]

Witnesses:

J. N, Mcln'rmu, Ones. A. Soo'r'r. 

